Estate Agent won't return deposit

I was once in a situation with Just Letting City Bowl, there was minor damage to the flat I was renting, I told them to repair it, send me the invoice, and deduct it from the deposit. Which they did, but wouldn't provide a breakdown of the costs, which I considered high. They also refused to pay the interest as stipulated in the contract.

They paid out the remainder of my deposit.

Then they realised I still had the "rip-off" cost access card to the building, and phoned me for them, I agreed, once I received the breakdown of what my deposit was used for, which they said was on the way.

Couple of days later they phoned me again asking me when I was delivering the access cards - to which my response was pretty obvious, they then threatened to charge me, and involve lawyers, as they would have to fork out cash for new cards, needless to say, I told them to go ahead, I had my remaining deposit, and I'm sure the deductions would be given to me in court.

Guy swore at me and hung up, never heard from them again, also never used them again, which is unfortunate to their clients, as quite a few properties I had a look at were managed by them.
 
xrapidx said:
I was once in a situation with Just Letting City Bowl, there was minor damage to the flat I was renting, I told them to repair it, send me the invoice, and deduct it from the deposit. Which they did, but wouldn't provide a breakdown of the costs, which I considered high. They also refused to pay the interest as stipulated in the contract.

They paid out the remainder of my deposit.

Then they realised I still had the "rip-off" cost access card to the building, and phoned me for them, I agreed, once I received the breakdown of what my deposit was used for, which they said was on the way.

Couple of days later they phoned me again asking me when I was delivering the access cards - to which my response was pretty obvious, they then threatened to charge me, and involve lawyers, as they would have to fork out cash for new cards, needless to say, I told them to go ahead, I had my remaining deposit, and I'm sure the deductions would be given to me in court.

Guy swore at me and hung up, never heard from them again, also never used them again, which is unfortunate to their clients, as quite a few properties I had a look at were managed by them.
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Lovely! Good you stood your ground.
 
The_Librarian said:
Lovely! Good you stood your ground.
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Was quite sometime ago, but I repeatedly asked for the breakdown, they kept saying they'd send it, never did. I knew it was against regulations, but wasn't worth the effort - so when they suddenly needed something from me :twisted:
 
yebocan said:
You need to get hold of the Housing Tribunal at your municipality....-get ready to fill in **** load of documents...took a bit for them to get to my case, but when they did....only took one visit from them, and my deposit was refunded ...
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This. Took me three visits to their offices, but they gave the order and my deposit had to be paid back within 7 days.

vicv said:
I was hoping to keep it as short and sweet as possible. Something along the lines of the person responsible for holding the deposit(on behalf of the agent) vanishing along with the money and now it's our responsibility instead of the estate agent.
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It is the estate agent's problem, not yours. I agree with whomever said :"they can change the locks, keep your side legally clean".
 
vicv,

I know that Estate Agents hate the following information to be known to their customers;

The Estate Agent is bound by the ethics code of conduct and you may lodge a claim against Fidelity Fund to recover your loss, see http://www.eaab.org.za/consumers/how_to_lodge_a_claim

To find out more about the Agent and the firm, use the Find Agent or Find Agency function that is available on the Estate Agency Affairs Board website.

All the information in respect of the deposit, payment, retainment and reimbursement should be in the rental contract. The deposit should have been held in an interest bearing account for your benefit while you where renting the property.

In future ask the Estate Agent upfront for their Fidelity Fund Certificate; they should have it with them when they do any business and you can then make sure you deal with a valid Estate Agent.

Last thing, you may still claim against the Estate Agent Fidelity Fund even if the agent or person acting as an agent is/was not a registered agent with the Estate Agency Affairs Board.
 
Lourens said:
vicv,

I know that Estate Agents hate the following information to be known to their customers;

The Estate Agent is bound by the ethics code of conduct and you may lodge a claim against Fidelity Fund to recover your loss, see http://www.eaab.org.za/consumers/how_to_lodge_a_claim

To find out more about the Agent and the firm, use the Find Agent or Find Agency function that is available on the Estate Agency Affairs Board website.

All the information in respect of the deposit, payment, retainment and reimbursement should be in the rental contract. The deposit should have been held in an interest bearing account for your benefit while you where renting the property.

In future ask the Estate Agent upfront for their Fidelity Fund Certificate; they should have it with them when they do any business and you can then make sure you deal with a valid Estate Agent.

Last thing, you may still claim against the Estate Agent Fidelity Fund even if the agent or person acting as an agent is/was not a registered agent with the Estate Agency Affairs Board.
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I have emailed the EAAB and phoned to follow up but they're fscking useless
 
I was always told, when renting, don't ever plan on getting your deposit back. Sometimes it isn't worth it.
 
Chevron said:
I was always told, when renting, don't ever plan on getting your deposit back. Sometimes it isn't worth it.
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My take on this. Don't pay your last months rent.

I lost R10500 a while back when my estate agent went broke. Even though your deposit is supposed to be secured in a separate account this was obviously not the case.

The Estate Agency board is pathetic. It took them months to reply. Even though the Agent was a member they said they couldn't help. I hadn't exhausted all my legal options and the maximum period of 3 months had passed.
I tried the consumer protection guys and they said they couldn't help.

Only people who could apparently do something is the Rental Housing Tribunal. I tried sending them email but got no response. So I eventually gave up.
 
vicv said:
Apparently the EAAB received our request and were working on it. Plan on contacting them soon to hear what's up.
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have you contacted your local newspaper or community newspaper about this.
many, especially the community papers have a "consumer" section / column.
usually a call from them to the agents gets things moving very quickly. (especially in light of the hellopeter comments)

an adverse article like this, is often the kiss of death - agents know this
 
Any reason you cant go to small claims court, it is relatively painless, just most people dont make the effort?
 
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